Real Estate as an Investment: Tips and Strategies

Welcome to my real estate blog. My name is Maria, and I have been buying and selling homes for years. I own a rental that generates income. I have a lot of experience with real estate as an investment, and it is a topic that I love to research. Currently, I am staying home with my new baby, and I want to have an 'adult' outlet so I decided to create that through a blog. Here, I am going to present all kinds of posts on using real estate as an investment. If you want to learn tips and strategies to make real estate into an investment, explore these posts. I hope you enjoy my blog!

Understanding Property Valuations

Posted on:
1 May 2015

Are you planning on selling your home, or any other piece of real estate? If so, you will need to have a property valuation done. This is so that you the exact worth of your property, and you know what you can start with as a listing price. Most lenders will require property evaluations before buyers are able to get mortgages, so if you have this information ready for them, you will have a better chance of selling your home.

What is a Valuation?

A valuation is different from an inspection. While an inspector will look for any problems with the home that need to be repaired, a valuer looks at the overall value of the property. They both look at all of the same things, but for different reasons.

With a valuation, you can learn about the best use for a particular property. For instance, it may be residential, but if you are able to rezone it as a commercial property, you can get a higher asking price. A valuer will let you know what your options are so that you can get the highest price possible.

How is a Property Valuation Done?

The first thing the valuer will look at is the interior and exterior of the building on the property. They will also take a little tour of the neighbourhood, to see what other properties look like. They will look for any asset or detriments on your property. Some of the things that the valuer will look at in order to get a total value for the property include:

Property location

Living space

Construction quality

Layout

Number of bathrooms and bedrooms

Size of the lot

Property condition/home condition

Heating

Landscaping

Outbuildings

Renovations

Decks and fencing

Neighbourhood amenities

Once the valuer has examined the property and the home, they will look at market data for the neighbourhood such as current and past sale prices or current offers on similar homes. Once they have all of the data, they compare your home to this data.

When to Have a Valuation Done

In order to get the highest property valuation, it is best to have the property inspected and a valuation done before you list the property for sale on the real estate market. That way, you will know what repairs need to be done in order to increase the value of the property, and you can make these repairs to up the asking price.